Poetry in motion
Baryshnikov brings life to works of longtime friend
For Mikhail Baryshnikov, “Brodsky/ Baryshnikov” is a celebration of old friend Joseph Brodsky, the Nobel Prizewinning Russian poet. The one-man show, which Baryshnikov performs Jan. 17-21 at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, is a rare chance to see Brodsky's work performed onstage — something Baryshnikov admits might have shocked the late poet.
“He really rejected theater, especially psychological theater,” the iconic dancer said, suppressing a laugh. “He thought writers write plays, not for performing, but for reading. But sometimes he asked me to read his poems aloud. I was always nervous, but he liked the way I recited his work.”
“Brodsky/Baryshnikov” features Baryshnikov performing selected poems, but it's not a poetry reading. It also features plenty of movement, but it's not a dance piece.
“It is not conventional theater; I don't try to act as if I were him,” Baryshnikov said. “It is a conversation with him. Sometimes we even hear Joseph's own voice (over the PA), almost as if we are reciting things to each other.”
The Soviet Union exiled Brodsky in 1972 and two years later Baryshnikov defected. The two were introduced at a party in New York in the mid-'70s and became fast friends for 22 years, Brodsky died at 55 in 1996. Baryshnikov never planned to do a tribute, but a fellow Latvian and Brodsky fan, director Alvis Hermanis, approached the dancer with an idea.
Hermanis conceived of a piece that approached an artistic seance. He wanted to use Baryshnikov to summon the spirit of the poet. Of course, to do that the words had to remain in Russian (don't worry, subtitles are projected onto the minimalist set).
“Russian-speaking audience members sometimes make up 60 or 70 percent of the audience,” Baryshnikov said. “But we have done this everywhere, in London and Israel and New York. Now there is Canada, Chicago and Boston. Everywhere we go, people know this Nobel Prize laureate and his poetry, which has been translated into hundreds of languages.
“His fame makes my job a little easier,” he added with a chuckle. “Of course I still have to do a lot of work.” Over an hour and a half, Baryshnikov moves through the piece, keeping the energy flowing as he reads, recites from memory or listens to Brodsky's recorded voice chant verse out of a reel-to-reel tape machine.
“The Russian language is such a pleasure to work with, and this really is an excellent translation,” he said. “But the text must go along with the delivery and so there is, not choreography per se, but we looked to Japanese kabuki, Spanish flamenco and other art forms to help me move, to illustrate and provide bridges and transitions between the poems.
“I think we found the way to make this poetic journey through his work,” he added. “Which is all we could hope to do.”